Mark Rotter, analyst at Africa Analysis says that while proprietary source applications are still the primary form of software in use overall, open source software clearly offers an affordable alternative. Not only does it assist companies in curbing their expenditure on resources but there are also clear opportunities for bridging the digital divide in Africa, he says.
"Open source has begun to play a major role in our government," says Cassim Parak, managing director of e.com institute, a wholly black-owned provider of technology solutions to the public sector. "The government's strategy on the roll out of open source is good because it encourages creativity and innovation."
Rotter says open source is likely to have an impact in government. "Governments worldwide are, for example, increasingly wanting to avoid being held hostage by proprietary software and are exploring other alternatives." Rotter says that government's challenge is in how to introduce open source into the mainstream of their IT systems in a managed way. In critical issues such as on how to decide where open source should be considered as well as on how the evaluation should be done, have been high on the list of priorities.
The roll out of open source by governments, who are currently one of the largest spenders on IT resources, will see open source increase its market share over time. "Governments of developing countries such as Malaysia, India and Brazil have recognised the value of open source," says Parak. "They are currently implementing policies that tie in the use of open source with their e-Government strategies."
With open source beginning to make business sense to governments and large companies, and significant shifts being made from proprietary software to the roll out of open source, do proprietary software providers have reason to feel threatened that their market position might be compromised?
"In reality, end-users are currently still more familiar with proprietary applications such as Microsoft Office as opposed to open source software such as Open Office or Linux," says Rotter. "Thus, it is not likely that open source will immediately and completely replace commercial software. It is likely however that over time we will increasingly see organisations begin to encompass both models in their business processes."
Rotter continues on to say "while open source is ideally situated to occupy the dominant position in commoditised software, proprietary software will continue to drive in the area of high margin applications which are focused on business value added innovation rather than on technical functionality or features."
"The reason for this is that open source requires a higher level of technical grasp to install and maintain," elaborates Parak. "Although open source providers have begun addressing this problem, the average end-user would still need to learn and adapt to the technicalities of the open source offering."
Rotter says that while traditional proprietary source companies have a strong value proposition in the market there is a risk that this may be eroded over time in certain application areas. Open source is steadily pressing in on established software markets and this is providing a challenge for those companies, he says. "With this in mind, the question should be, 'does OSS provide a viable alternative?' as opposed to, 'will open source replace proprietary software?'"
For some organisations open source is already proving to be a viable alternative. According to CIO.com, a significant number of organisations are switching from Windows NT to Linux to cut the server failure rate, run applications faster and to address the security issue.
"There is value in open source for business but people need to separate brand from reality," says Parak. "Downloading open source from an industry player in the field does not necessarily mean that there is value in the software package."
"Africa, as a whole, has a lot to benefit from open source and it is indeed pleasing to see that developers are taking advantage of this," says Parak. "Several initiatives such as translate.org.za have innovated software suites that allow end-users to spell check documents in their own indigenous languages such as Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans."
With open source allowing room for modification and distribution government is now able to customise solutions according to the needs of a specific department, he says. e-Government strategies are now able to focus on delivering quality service to people in their own languages, with technology developed to address their needs faster and efficiently. In this way the country moves closer towards bridging the digital divide.
Open source enables and promotes skills development through innovation. Instead of Africa being largely a consumer of software, open source provides Africa with the ability to become a producer of technology, says Rotter. The funds spent on licensing fees could be invested in local development, aimed at bridging the digital divide. "However it is perhaps useful to recall from economic theory that it is not necessarily better for the economy of a country to have more exports than imports. Rather it is better to have a balanced import/export equation," says Rotter. "In the complex world of software applications we will continue to see a rich interplay between proprietary and open source applications for the foreseeable future."
"Once this has happened Africa would have effectively dealt with the technological gap between itself and first world countries and will then be able to deal with the problem of ICT professionals leaving to pursue careers overseas," says Parak.
Quelle: Tectonic, 13.09.2004
